Coin-controlled lock



Feb. 23 1926.

W. M. SUBLETTE COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed May 15, 1924 IN VEN TOR. illiam/ M Suleliis A TTORNEYv Patented Feb. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM M. SUBLETTE, 0F HUNTING-TON PARK, CALIFORNIA.

COIN-CONTEOLLED LOCK.

' Application filed. May 15,

To all whom itmay concern: 1

Be .it known thatl, WVILLIAM M. SUBLETTE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntington Park, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Locks,-of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to coin-controlled locks, particularly useful on the doors of pay toilets in comfort stations.

Theobject of my invention is to provide an interchangeable coin-controlle'dlock of the character stated which may be applied to either side of the front or rear of a door.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of refer- .ence indicate corresponding parts in all the figures,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my coincontrolled lock partly in section on line 1 1 of Figure 2. a I V Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of my lock taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken partly on line 11 of Figure 2, showing a coin deposited in the coin-controlling mechanism for unlocking the lock.

Figure e is a View similar to Figure 3,

showing, the coin-controlling mechanism turned with the coin therein to unlock the lock. V Figure 5 is a view similar to Figures 3 and 1, showing the coin-controlling mechanism actuated to release and drop the coin after the lock is unlocked.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the shell of the coin-controllingmechanism.

Fi ure 7 is a horizontal sectional View on line 7 of Figure 2, showing a plug closing one of the bolt bearing notches.

Figure 8 is an inside view of one of the plugs for closing said notch. v

Figure,9 is a perspective view. of the key for opening the lock.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawing, lindicates a housing, and the back wall of the housing is secured at its lower end to a door 4 by means of the screws 5.- Acoin receiving slot 9 is provided in the top wall of member 8, and said member is provided in its front wall at the top thereof with a hearing 10 in which is journaled a shell 11,

' which shell is formed with; a journal 12, of

1924. Serial No. 713,518.

smaller diameter than the body of the shell and fitting in said hearing. The back plate 2 is formed with a bearing 13 in which is journaled a shaft 14:, the inner portion of which projects into the shell 11 andits inner end 1s journaled in a bearing 15 within The forward the journal 12 of the shell. end 16 ,of the shell ll is reduced slightly smaller than the journal 12 and a knob 17 is secured on said end, which knob is formed with a hub 18 fitting on said end, the rear,

end of which hub being formed with an external flange 19 winch engages the forward end of the bearing 10 and the shoulder 20 it formed between the journal 12 and the for ward end portion 1.6 of the shell 11. t

The body of the shell 11' is provided with a pair of longitudinal slots 21 and :22 arranged diametrically opposite each other with the slot 22 below the slot 21, said slots extending from the rear end of theshell to point a short distance at the rear of the journal 16. A tapered annular shoulder 23 is forn ied beween the body of the shelland the ournal 12 which shoulder bears against the inner end of the bearing 10. The forward end of the slot 22 extends to the shoulder 23. j The shell is provided with two apertures 24 extending through the shoulder 23 against the forward or inner end of the slot 22 and near the opposite sides respectively of said slot, for the reception of.

a screw 26, for detachably screwing a coin supporting shoulder 27 to the inside of the shell shoulder 23 at the forw'ardend of the slot 22, at one side or the other thereof. The screw 26 is inserted through one or the other of said apertures from the outside of the shoulder 23 and the head of the screw being countersunk in said side of the shoulder.

The inner portion of the shaft 14 is pro- I v vided with a longitudinal slot 30 extending diametrically therethrough', the ends of said slot inclining forwardly from the top to the bottom thereof for directing the coin deposited through the slots 9 and 21 onto the shoulder 27 and for dropping the coin forwardly of the bolt 31 so that the coin will not strike the bolt when dropping into the coin receptacle 32 in the bottom of the housing. The shaft 14 is formed with an annular shoulder 33 which engages the inner end of the bear- 7 ing 13 and an arm 34 is formed on said shaft adjacent sald shoulder within the housing 1 which arm extends downwardly from the said shaft.

Rectangular notches 35 are provided in the rear edges of the side walls of the member 3 a short distance below the axis of the shaft 14, one of which notches receives and forms a bearing for a latch 36 on the outer end of the bolt 31 and the other notch receives a plug37 for closing the same. The said plug is formed with flanges 38 and 39 on its inner and outer sides which extend along the forward, top and bottom edges of the plug for engaging the inside and outside respectively of the wall of the member 3 at the forward, lower and upper edges of a notch 35, whereby the plug is held in the notch to close the same. The plug is rabbeted on its inner side along its rear vertical edge as indicated at 40 to receive theedge of the back wall 2 of the housing so that the plug may be properly fitted in the notch 35. A'pin 41 projects inwardly from the inner side of the plug 37 and apin 42 projects from the rear end of the bolt 31, which pins are surrounded by a coil spring 43', one end of which bearing against the rear end of the bolt and the other end bearing againstthe plug 37, whereby the bolt is normally held extended in its locking position. The location of the notches 35 in the rear edge of the member 3 places the bolt near the back plate 2, providing a narrow space between itself and saidwall for the lower end of the arm 3-l and leaving room for the coin to drop be in a vertical alignment with theslot 9 to receive a coin. A catch 50 is securedto the edge of the door frame to receive the bolt latch 36 for locking the door when closed.- A pin 51 is driven into the shell 11 at the left of the arm 34 and a pin 52 is driven into the back wall 2 at the same side of said arm, to which pins the-ends of a spring 53 are connected, which spring draws the shell in a clockwise direction, which movement is normally arrested by the engagement of the pin 51 with a pin 54 driven into the back wall 2 at the left of the arm 34 so that the right side of the slot 21 and the left side of the slot 22 coincide with the corresponding sides respectively of the upper and lower ends of the slot 30, and the shoulder 27 secured to the left side of the slot 22 rests directly under the forward-end of said slot 30.

the shoulder 23 in said slots.

A sleeve 60 is internally threaded at its forward end for engaging an internal thread on the bearing 13 at the rear side of the back plate 2 as indicated at 61, and the rear end of said sleeve; is externally threaded for engaging an internally threaded head 62 as indicated at 63, which sleeve extends through an opening 64 in the door 4 and which head fits partly in the "rear end of said opening and against the rear side of the door and is secured to the'door by the screws 65, whereby the upper end of the housing is clamped to the front side of the door and may be clamped to doors of diflerent widths; The

rear end of the shaft 14 extends through an opening 66 in the head 62 and said shaft may be made in two sections coupled together by a screw coupling 67 Within the sleeve 60 and head 62, whereby the shaft is adjusted in length to correspond to the thickness of the door. A knob 70 is secured on the'rearend of the shaft 14 for turning the shaft from the inside of the said door.

An opening 71 is provided in the front wall of the housing member 3 and is normally closed by a door 72, which is locked closed by a lock 73. Access may be had to the coin receptacle 32 through the opening 71 upon unlocking and removing the said door 72 and the screws 5 may be driven into the door 4 or removed therefrom through said opening 71 when the coin receptacle door 72 is removed. 1

T The bolt latch 36 may be extended through either notch 35 and the plug 37' placed in the other notch, so that the lock may be placed on either side of the front or rear side of the'door. I

Upon turning the knob 17 without a coin in the slots 21, 30 and 22 the shell 11 only will be rotated and the bolt'latch 36 will remain engaged with the catch 50; To unlock the door from the outside the proper coin is inserted through the slot 9 and through the slots 21, 30 and 22 in the shell 11 and shaft 14. Upon entering the slot 30 the coin is directed by the inclined ends of the slot upon the part 28 of the shoulder 27, and upon rotating the knob 1'? and the shell 11 counter-clockwise, the coin engages the right and left sides of the slots 21 and 22, and causes the shaft 14 and arm 34 to be cor respondingly rotated, whereupon the arm engaging the pin 47 withdraws the bolt latch 36 from the catch 50 and unlocks the door. Upon releasing the knob 17 the bolt, shell and shaft are returned to their normal positions with the bolt latch engaging the catch 50, and the slots 21, 30 and 22 in vertical alignment with the slot 9 as above described, and with the coin still resting upon Upon turning the knob 70 counter clockwise the shaft 14 and arm 34 are correspondingly rotated and the bolt latch 36 is withdrawn from the catch 50, and the dooris unlocked from the inside. while the shell 11 remains stationary and the coin escapes the shoulder 27 and v the left side of the front of a door, The

said lock may be adapted for use on the right side of the front of a door as follows:

The bolt latch 36 isremoved from the left notch 35 and the plug 37 is removed from the right notch 35. The bolt is reversed and the latch introduced through the right notch 35 while the plug 37 is placed in the left notch 35 with the spring d3 surrounding the pins 41 and 42 and bearing against the plug and the inner end of the bolt. The pin 47 engages the left side of the arm 3- and the pin 48 is removed and driven into a suitable aperture at the right side of the arm 34-. The pin 51'is re moved from the shell and driven into the shell at the right of the arm 34. Thepin is removed and driven into the plate 2 at the right of the arm 34 and the spring 53 is connected to the pins 51 and 52. 'The pin 5% is removed and driven into the plate 2 at the right of the pin 51. The shoulder 27 is removed by removing the screw 26 and is secured to the right side of the slot 22 by inserting the screw through the aperture 25 at the right side of said slot.

The operation of the lock is then the same as hereinabove described, except that it is reversed.

A key hole 7 5 is provided in the forward end of the end portion 16 of the shell 11 and a key opening 76 is provided in the forward end of the shaft 14:, the inner portion 77 of said opening being reduced and leading into the forward end of the shaft 30. A key 80 is formed with a cylindrical body 81 and a flat sided reduced end portion 82. The body 81 fits the key hole 75 and the larger forward portion of the opening 76,

while the flat sided end portion 82- of the key is adapted to extend through the rear' portion 77 of the opening 76 into the forward end of the slot 30, so that upon turning the key the shaft 1% and arm 34 may be turned to unlock the lock as above described.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a coin-controlled lock of the class described, the combination of a housing and a coin receptacle in said housing, the upper wall of the housing having a coin-receiving slot, a shaft journaled in the rear Wall of said housing and extending rearwardly therefrom, a shell journaled in the front wall of said housing and extending forwardly therefrom, said shell surrounding said shaft in the housing, said shaft having a slot extending diametrically therethrough, said shell having a pair 0 diametrically opposed slots wider than the'slotin said shaft, a shoulder at one side of the inner end of the lower slot in said shell for arresting a coin deposited through said coinreceiving slot in said shell slots and said shaft slot, a spring pressed bolt mounted in said housing for engaging a catch, a

pin on said bolt, an arm onsaid shaft engaging said pin, a pin secured in the housing for engaging said arm to limit the pro jection of said bolt in looking position and for limiting the rotation of said shaft with said shaft slot in vertical alinement with said coin receiving slot, a spring connected to said shell, a stop for limiting the turning movement of said shell under the influence of said spring, with the shell slots opposite the upper and lower ends of the shaft slot and said shoulder underthe lower end of said shaft slot, the coin being adapted to engage opposite sides of said shell slots upon rotation of the shell in one direction for rotating the shaft and arm and retracting the bolt from, said catch, and the coin being adapted to escape said shoulder and drop into said coin receptacle when said shaft is rotated.

2. In a coin-controlled lock of the class described, the combination of a housing and a coin receptacle in said housing, the upper wall of the housinghaving a coin-receiving slot, a shaft journaled in the rear wall of said housing and extending rearwardly therefrom, a shell journaled in the front wall of said housing and extending forwardly therefrom, said shell surrounding said shaft in the housing, said shaft having a slot extending diametrically therethrough, said shell having a pair of diametrically opposed slots wider than the slot in said shaft, a shoulder at one side of the inner end of the lower slot in said shell for arresting a coin deposited through said coin-receiving slot in said shell slots and said shaft slot, a spring pressed bolt mounted in said housing for engaging a catch, a pin on said bolt, an armon said shaft engaging said pin, a pin secured in the hous ing for engaging said arm tolimit the projection of said bolt in locking position and for limiting the rotation of said shaft with said shaft slot in "vertical alignment with said coin receiving slot, a spring connected to said shell, a stop for limiting the turning movement of said shell under the influence of said spring, with the shell slots opposite the upper and lower ends of the shaft slot and said shoulder under the lower end of said shaft slot, the coin being adapted to engage opposite sides of said shell slots upon rotation of the shell in one direction for rotating the shaft and arm andretracting the bolt from said catch, and the coin being adapted to escape said shoulder and drop into said coin receptacle when said shaft is rotated, the ends of said shaft slot inclining forwardly from-top to bottom for directing the coin onto said. shoulder and for causing the coin to drop 10 between said bolt and the front Wall of the housing into said receptacle.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM M. SUBLETTE. 

